The Castle: Owner of house from cult Australian film wants it demolished
Darryl Kerrigan would be horrified — the owner of the house featured in cult Australian film The Castle wants it demolished to make way for a new development.
So in a case of life imitating art, "the castle" — which in reality is 3 Dagonet Street in the Melbourne suburb of Strathmore — could be headed to court.
The fate of the house lies in the hands of the Moonee Valley City Council, which will, as early as Tuesday night, vote on whether to apply for heritage protection for the house.
If the council votes "yes", councillors will formally apply for heritage listing — but the property's owner has threatened to take legal action if that happens.
Vicky Cosentino wants to demolish the house to make way for two townhouses.
Moonee Valley Mayor Andrea Surace told 774 ABC Melbourne the motion was brought by Councillor Narelle Sharpe in August, and a heritage consultant had found the property to have local social significance.
"In the meantime we've sought authorisation from the Minister for Planning to prepare an amendment, and that proposes to apply a heritage overlay at the dwelling," she said.
"It's just a very sweet, simple weatherboard home. It's something that has a bit of an emotional significance."
The report stated the house's "connections with the film The Castle are the foremost aspect of its significance, reflecting both social and historical value".
Ms Surace said the rest of the area had since been developed, and the main issue was whether it was fair to stop the current owner from doing the same thing.
"There's a variety of different types of housing development in the area," she said.
"There is the resident who owns the property, who wishes to develop or put in an application to develop as they have the right to do."
According to the Real Estate Institute Victoria, the median house price in Strathmore is $1.1 million.
Mr Kerrigan took his fight against the home's compulsory acquisition all the way to the High Court, in the 1997 film.